The art of deciet
by Soph xox
Summary: All is not as it seems in the senate, Jedi Knights ObiWan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are sent to investigate, but during the strenous times of the clone wars, there will be those who will do anything in their power to stop them. PLEASE RR! more interesti
1. Chapter 1

Hiya, here's another story from moi! some might consider this story a little slow as a beggining but it needs to explain what is happening before it happens y'know!

I'd double space to make it easier to read but...I'm lazy...so...I didnt...hehehehe ;) lol sorry!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters save for maybe a few random senators, I dont own anything here like planets blalala,I make no money from it, it all belongs to George Lucas and Lucasfilm!

**Summary: **All is not as it seems in the senate during the strenuous times of the Clone wars, Obi-Wan and Anakin are sent deep undercover to discover the truth.

**Extras:** I hope you like, I'll expect flames, but I won't be glad about them, just as long as it's constructive and just criticism, not just aimless ranting, but please R/R!

(Non slash.)

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Dex's café,never onetobeconsidered a 'scenic' location so to speak, but suited to become the perfect place for quiet observation or work space for Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi during his years on Coruscant. He had taken up his usual position of a small booth by the window, where, as was his custom, he could observe his surroundings and passers-by with out appearing to observe. A technique he'd always associated with his former master Qui-Gon Jinn.

The smell of food wafted in from the battered and over-used kitchen area, not an overly pleasant smell, but one that customers accepted to become used to whenever they came to this particular venue. Before Kenobi, lay a durasteel, square-shaped data pad, that with each passing moment, would flash up new sentences of multi-coloured lettering, information, and research facts, all based around the Jedi's new given assignment, which, to a casual on-looker, would look like nothing more than a simple cohesion of random colours and symbols. In fact, it meant pretty much the same to Kenobi.

"What do you make of this?" Dex stopped, startled by Obi-Wan's abrupt statement, almost dropping the tray of mugs in his large jelly-like hands.

"Be with ya in one moment pal!" His larger-than-life and raucous manner nearly always gave Obi-Wan reason to smile, or at least shake his head in quiet amusement, today however he had nothing left in him, nothing positive anyway. After Dex had delivered his tray to a group of awaiting, and gristly coruscanti, Dex plonked his huge form on the bench opposite Obi-Wan, linking his fingers and grinning lopsidedly at the frowning Jedi before him.

"What can I do for ya!" Obi-Wan slid the pad towards Dex.

"What do you make of this?" He repeated his first question. The large, orange tinted creature before him took up the small pad, which seemed to almost disappear and crush inside his titanic hand, though Obi-Wan knew that Dex's gentle manner was one of his greatest attributes, he wouldn't break it. Dex's eyes goggled in either fascination or incredulity, Obi-Wan hoped it to be the former, after moments of careful study, the pad was returned, and slid across the table under Kenobi's watchful gaze. Dex remained uncharacteristically silent for several moments, and Obi-Wan leant back on the cushioned bench, stroking his beard tiredly.

"Well?"

Again Dex started, he seemed to have forgotten that Obi-Wan was even in the room, he quickly corrected himself, and soon adopted his more natural talkative, and knowledgeable manner.

"Pretty interesting pot of tricks you've got yourself there my friend, but what I think is, you better tell me what most of this jargon actually means, before I tell you what it is you _need_ to do." Obi-Wan nodded in subdued agreement, his assignment, or moreover, his and Anakin's assignment, was not one that could be completed with ease, but then again, when was a task assigned to _any_ Jedi _ever _easy?

"I came to you for help Dex, you know I appreciate your opinions," He paused, feeling terribly wary, and an awful sense of he wasn't supposed to be there, seemed to course down his spine with a cold cruelty.

"Go on." Obi-Wan nodded once more.

"You must understand that this must not be uttered to anyone, if word gets out," he stopped again, he did not need to tell Dex how serious the consequences would be, Dex would comply, he was not a courageous being.

"Of course, of course now spill Kenobi I've got customers who actually pay me!" Obi-Wan gave Dex a friendly smile, he leant closer and lowered his voice considerably.

"There is an increasingly likely chance that we have a leak in the Republic senate." There was a long silence, only disrupted by the bustle and noise of daily Coruscanti life. Dex however, looked thoroughly confused.

"I'm not a plumber."

If Obi-Wan could thump him he would've done, he'd have to be a bit more obvious apparently. _patience_ he thought despairingly.

"Not…_that_ sort of leak Dex." Dex drew in a sharp breath in shock and realization, he scratched his bristled chin thoughtfully.

"You don't say, a spy? In the senate!" Obi-Wan winced.

"Keep your voice down!" He looked around him to see if anyone had noticed Dex's outburst, luckily, it seemed to have gone unnoticed.

"As you are probably well aware we have our own…well…._forms_ of intelligence, the council has been observing the senate for some time now, and so far, we have gone undetected."

"That sounds very unlike the Jedi I know of." Obi-Wan smiled sadly, and looked down at the pad below him as he spoke.

"Times have changed my friend, we are at war, nothing is as it was anymore, including the Jedi."

"_And _the senate, as you've pointed out." Obi-Wan nodded agreement

"Thus far we have only been able to intercept such things as minor transmissions, sub-transmission codes and encrypted audio messages, none of which have proved much use, we have however, detected a consistent flaw in the _chancellor's_ private comm. system." He pushed the pad back into Dex's hands, who looked from Kenobi, to the pad with a mixture of awe and confusion.

"Sounds mighty erm…..suspicious, but what does all this entail? How did you guys come up with this spy theory?" Obi-Wan nodded towards the data pad.

"Read these track records, these were taken of every transmission the Chancellor has made within the last 7 weeks, as you can see the first 5 or 6 contained this route reference." Obi-Wan hit a key on the small innocent looking pad, and a list of numbers danced across the blackened screen. Dex's orange complexion had turned an unhealthy shade of green.

"Um, as much as I appreciate _your_, opinions Obi-Wan I'd really prefer it if you made this a little simpler for a lowly bartender."

"This is basically a code, not a password as such, just a designated number to mark the route the transmission took, basically it'll tell the archive computer where and who this message came from. Understand?" Dex nodded, still looking somewhat queasy.

"Now look at this." Dex didn't need to misunderstand the readings to tell what Obi-Wan was showing him.

"They're different."

"Exactly, as you can see, the previous originated in the chancellor's private quarters, where all the transmissions were _started_ from, but these been re-routed, several times, and look," He pointed to a large gap in the figures. "It's been altered, this isn't a code recognised or used by the chancellor, in any of his staterooms, or conference rooms." Dex nodded, pushing the pad away, as if it contained some form of sickening disease he wanted as far from him as possible.

"I can think of a number of reasons why I don't fully believe this theory, but, hey, you guys are the Jedi, I am but a café owner, you've got the resources for this kinda work I don't, so I'll just go along with ya!"

Obi-wan leant back sighing. "I suggest you do." Dex hooted with laughter.

"Dex, you said that you would now tell me what it is I would need to do." Dex pulled Obi-Wan's mug to himself and drained it, much to Obi-Wan's surprise before handing the emptied mug back to him, he spoke while sill attempting to choke down the hot liquid.

"Yeh, well…..ok, as you can see it was a bit hard for me to understand all that Jedi political talk, but when you first handed me the pad I had a pretty fair idea of what it was you wanted to do you know?" Obi-Wan waited for the orange, slug-like being to continue.

"You wanna get to that conference on Alderaan don't ya, the one that has been scheduled for months, the supposedly secret meeting." Obi-Wan looked down again, the feeling of wariness and anxiety meeting him full on once more.

"Yes." Dex clapped his hands in satisfaction.

"Ok then why didn't ya say so! Look, there's a refugee trasport heading there from the lower levels of Coruscant in three days, take that for starters, as they'll assume yer'all there from the dank and destitute ya know, it should be pretty simple from there onwards, but let me warn ya, from a friend to a friend, there'll be hundreds of senators, governors, and all kinds of political heads there, you'll blend in not too bad if yer smart, which, Obi-Wan, I know you are." He grinned and chuckled to himself.

"But there will be those who'll recognise ya, and if they do, I'd get yerself outta' there quick, they 'aint too keen on havin' anyone not invited per say, hangin' around, you understand."

"I do."

"Once you're sorted with tha', get yourself to the senatorial quarters, ya know, the East of the capital, a fellow as well travelled as yourself would know it surely, attractive place, very pleasant, anyway, make your way to the kitchen doors, they are the back doors that lead to the gardens, back of the whole site, there'll be a guard at the door, ask him for Ieron, the cook, tell him your friends of mine, and then I'm sure you can take it from there."

It took a few moments for Obi-Wan's brain to absorb all the information, to him, it sounded a bit too sneaky, that wasn't a problem, if you were willing to take such hefty risks, if there was just one slip up, and they were caught, that would be the end of the co-operation of the Jedi to the Senate, there would be turmoil in the republic, not that it wasn't as such already, but whatever there were problems between the two factions were now, they would be ten times as escalated should any of this get out. They would have to be extremely, _extremely_, careful. Obi-Wan stood slowly, he'd have to prepare quickly, and fill Anakin in the minute he returned to the temple, as Dex had said, the transport would leave in three days, everything needed to be completely full-proof by then. He took Dex hand and squeezed it firmly in gratitude.

"Thank you my friend, once again you have been of more assistance than you know." Dex laughed and pulled Obi-Wan into a rib-crushing, but entirely friendly bear hug.

"Anytime Obi-Wan anytime, it's not like you ever pay me for my services, so you always come back." Dex turned back to the kitchens and barged through the swing doors, Obi-Wan could still hear his rough laughter echoing off the smudge tiled walls. The smile slipped from his own face, and he placed the palm of his hand to the door pushing it open, light from the streets of Coruscant poured in, almost blinding him with the dark contrast of the café. Right now, he had to be focused, the republic was on it's knees, in this the first year of the Clone wars, no one could afford to mess up, _he _couldn't afford to mess up. Not once.


	2. Chapter 2

Hiya folks! I havent written anything for FF.N in aaaages, Ive had soo much going on! went to america for three weeks, left on guess what day...July 7th. On the way to heathrow when the underground was blown to bits! Guess how freaked we all were! eek! Then had all the horses shipped from Ireland over to us, they're real nice horsiedoodles! LOL, and Ive been in rehearsals for a local production of the musical 'Barnum!' its with a real big company producing it! Such good fun!

Can I apologize in advance for any continuety problems in this piece as I know things like 'The refugee ship' in chapter 1, wasnt actually used in chapter 2 but this isnt a major problem, but if anything major, like, 'this changes the whole story' major, then write in and Ill see what I can do, but dont bother if its only small.

I hope u guys like this chapter, I thought it was oddly amusing, its good fun to write dialogue for Kenobi and Skywalker, I love exploring relationships in writing, not in a dodgey way, but as in pushing the extremes of friendship, quesitons like, how far would you go for another kinda thing, I find it really interesting...mmm...LOL

Anyway enjoy this chappie and PLEEEASSE R/R!

lots of luv!

Soph xoxox

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Anakin swept his gaze over the control panels, such things would look like a maze of colour, blinking, general meaninglessness, but to Anakin, it almost seemed that ships spoke to him, worked _with_ him and not for him, Obi-Wan was always complaining at how he formed such deep connections to machines, the same was with his R2 unit, R2-D2, Anakin would never describe that droid as anything but his friend.

"Picking up some strange signals from the sensors, could be background noise, could you take a look at it?" Anakin brought up the readings from Obi-Wan's control panel.

"They're….transmissions, all coming from Alderaan?"

"Really, you don't sound too sure."

"It's just strange that's all, why would there be so many outgoing transmissions from Alderaan now?" There was a jolt in the cockpit which sent Anakin flying back down on his seat with a thump, immediately warning lights and alarms flickered and whirred throughout the small, Jedi cruiser, and more grating shudders took the ships hull in violent convulsions, Anakin could only just hear his former master's voice over the noise.

"Well……whatever the reason, it's seems to be disrupting all the ships systems!"

"This is useless; I've got nothing, no propulsion, no weapons, not even engines!" There was a massive crash, and a sickening scraping sound as the ship's battered hull gave out to the lack of support from the engines, both Anakin and Obi-Wan were flung forward.

"One good thing in all this I suppose!" Obi-Wan called out, despite the difficulty in being shaken and thrown around constantly.

"What's that?"

"This is the first time the ship has malfunctioned through no fault of your own!"

Anakin was about to retort when a violent, and shrieking alarm rang just inches above Anakin's head, angrily, he reached up and flicked a switch, the alarm powered down, and the red light stilled.

"Can you land us?"

"In one piece?"

"Preferably, but right now anything will do."

"I can land us, but I can't be too sure as to whether the ship will remain intact, let alone ourselves, but I'll try my best!" Anakin wasn't sure, but he thought he heard Obi-Wan murmur a quiet 'you always do' under his breath. Whether he did or did not say it, it gave Anakin the confidence he needed, he switched off the engines completely, one thing he had always learnt in his years of flying, 'better to crash with no engines rather than faulty ones.' He let the ship cruise in an eerie silence for several moments.

"We're through the atmosphere." Obi-Wan called out to him, gripping onto his panel for dear life.

"30 seconds till impact." Anakin turned to face his master. "Better hold on to something."

All either of the Jedi could hear was the beating of wind against the ships hull, wisps of smoke blew past Anakin's side window, blocking out most of the sunlight from his right. He hauled heavily on the steer to desperately bring the ship up to a more angled, and suitable landing position, though he was struggling quite intensely. After what seemed like an eternity, a loud scream sounded from the lower hull, and only milliseconds following, was an almighty crash! Both Anakin and Obi-Wan were thrown forward in their seats, as the ship was stopped suddenly, a fresh grating sound echoed throughout the cockpit, and the familiar sense of rocking and swaying indicated clearly to Anakin that they had crashed into water.

Anakin took several moments to compose himself, his head spun ad his limbs tingled, he sat up, shaking out his hands and checking himself over for any injuries, beside him, Obi-Wan was already shifting and trying to pull himself free.

"Are you hurt master?"

"No, but I'm stuck." Anakin freed himself from his belt, and moved to help Obi-Wan, who's panel had de-fused and crashed on to his lap.

"Phew, you're lucky this didn't fry you alive master."

"Thank you for the input Anakin but I _do_ need help if you don't mind." Anakin gave the contraption a rather unnecessary tug, and kicked it a couple of times with his boot. His master cried out as the machine shifted weight onto his leg.

"AGH! Not working Anakin just use your blasted lightsaber!" Flustered now, Anakin reached for is lightsaber, an uncomfortable look settled over his pale features.

"You won't hold me responsible if I take one or two limbs with me?"

"Anakin!"

"Right sorry." He activated the elegant, blue-glowing weapon and thrust it in a downward spiral straight into the computers main-wired circuitry. He arched his upper-arms down bringing the lightsaber into an angle, splitting the panel in two. Consequently freeing his master. The fried machine clattered in bits around the cock-pit floor, and smoke momentarily filled the cockpit. Anakin covered his mouth and nose with the sleeve of his tunic to stifle his coughs, while deactivating his weapon.

"You still intact master?" After the smoke had cleared enough for Anakin to see, he winced at the disapproving look from his master as the older Jedi swiped smoke away from his face, while carefully pulling himself to his feet.

"You could have been a bit more…..sparing?"

"You were in trouble."

"I was stuck Anakin, not being digested by a mutated bantha, it might have occurred to you that at some point we may need that computer?" Anakin flailed his arms in utter incredulity, his face a mask of annoyance. Obi-Wan continued to gaze upon the smoking machinery with something akin to pity.

"Nothing I do pleases you does it? You ask me to use my lightsaber, I use my lightsaber, you always complain about my being disobedient, so when I do obey, I'm lectured." To Anakin's surprise, Obi-Wan laughed.

"On the contrary my young padawan, the fact that a simple tease can get you so riled is something I find highly amusing, and that, I find almost pleasing, so I do recommend you keep it up it could prove to be a source of great comedy." He flashed a grin at his apprentice, before gathering up his pack, which seemed relatively untouched by the ridiculously violent crash, and made to activate the landing ramp. It opened to reveal a snowy, mountainous view, one rather daunting, to an inexperienced traveller, however, a minor inconvenience for a Jedi.

"One more thing."

"What's that?"

"Don't forget your lightsaber again, besides, you never know when we might find some impenetrable surface that your just dying to start slashing at." With one final, taunting smile, Kenobi turned, his cloak blowing slightly in the winter storm, and descended the ramp. Leaving Anakin to mutter under his breath.

"You're impossible, you know that?" He stepped out to join his master.

Obi-Wan stood at the foot of the landing ramp, turned at an angle slightly, taking in his surroundings, as well as inspecting the considerable damage taken to the ship, he watched casually as his Padawan navigated the slippery ramp, half blinded by the ever increasing blizzards.

"Our next course of action master?" Anakin had to shout over the wind."

"Well," Obi-Wan called in reply, "We can't make any real progress in this storm." He turned to face Anakin, squinting as the cold wind struck his eyes and cheeks.

"I suggest we find shelter, and wait it out." There was a pause, Anakin held his hand up to his brow, trying to mask some of his face from the piercing wind as he took in his white, and blanketed surroundings. His restless gaze returned to meet his master's calm and assertive one.

"I agree."

"Good" came the light hearted reply, the pair began to set off in the direction of the ice capped mountains, hoping to find some form of caved shelter if anything.

"Oh and Anakin," Anakin stopped.

"Yes master?" His voice was hoarse from shouting over the howling wind.

"The impossible master takes on the impossible apprentice, its only natural isn't it?" It wasn't a question. Anakin gaped as his master chuckled amusedly and pushed forward through the snow, Anakin followed. It was high time he realized that even if Anakin had said it on the other side of the galaxy, his master would have heard it, only in the time it would have taken for the pair to meet up again, Obi-Wan would have only come up with an even snider remark.


End file.
